Children of Spoof!
by AsgardianGrizzly
Summary: A play on my ongoing series Children of Hydra! Using characters from that story, along with Canon characters and maybe even a couple crossovers! This story is strictly for those who have read CoH! Please read that first! :) REQUESTS ARE BEING ACCEPTED! Information inside. ( What do you want to see happen to the Challengers! Anything you want! I'll write it!)
1. Intro (Information)

Intro -

 **Hey guys! So this is yet another sequel…er…prequel…er…side story…thing that was promised for my Children of Hydra series! Please read that story, and also Students of S.H.I.E.L.D. before reading this one.**

 **Here's the deal, I figure since SoS is on Hiatus currently, I'd write something to keep you guys busy. It currently has NO UPDATING SCHEDULE. So it could take a couple weeks for an update, it all depends on the response.**

 **:D It's going to be anything you guys want it to be!**

 **I'm taking requests. ;) !**

 **There's gonna be tons of humor involved, some fluff if you'd like, a torture fic maybe, some angst? Whatever you guys want! Here's how it's gonna work.**

 **You all send in ideas via review:**

 **ie: "I'd like to see how (insert character here) would react if she/he met Agent May and they fought" or even something with a cameo, like "I'd like to see (insert character here) meet Iron Man!" I'm also accepting, "I'd like a fluff fic with Daniel and Naia." Or maybe you'd like to see a fluff fic between Spencer and Tamashi (is that shipped XD)? Or Dragunov and Rebecca? Whatever everyone would like!**

 **If you have a ship that no one else ships, I love those and I will definitely take them. I'm accepting slash, and femslash. No smut though, just because I'm not a fan of writing it, and I'm not very good at it either. xD**

 **Hmm, what else? Oh!** _ **What ifs!**_ **I love What Ifs. So, in order to submit a "What If" add into your review:**

" **What if _ died instead of _?" (The name isn't going to be mentioned for Spoilers, I'll know what you mean if you write _) or "What if _ happened instead of _?"**

 **Or maybe a humor fic? Or an action fic? Or a 1800s fic? Whatever! I'm super open to ideas! You could do "I want to see what would happen if Daniel and Naia tried to go on a date"? Man, I really hope I got ideas rolling with these suggestions. ;) If you like one please make sure to review and request it.**

 **SO, let's review. A few ideas that are acceptable:**

 **. Action**

 **. Femslash / slash**

 **. Murder fics?**

 **. What ifs?**

 **. Separate time periods**

 **. Gender-swap-fic**

 **. Fluff (I'll try my best)**

 **. Moments that you've fantasized (dates, ships, action scenes, etc)**

 **. Scenes that you just really want to see**

 **. Someone gets turned into a vampire!**

 **. Zombie Apocalypse!**

 **. What _ was thinking when _ happened.**

 **I don't even know. xD I'm willing to write any of them.**

 **One thing: All of the chapters will be one-shots (two-shots at most) and I'll try to get them all at around 3000- 4000 words, which is about the size of the average COH or SOS chapter, but some might be very short if it's a prompt like "what was _ thinking when _ happened?"**

 **I'll also be including funny things that I've chatted about with readers via PMs, random scenes, super short little funny things. Some of these will be really short, just as an FYI. All of your requests will be long but most of mine will just be short little things.**

 **NO IDEA IS TO RANDOM, EXTRAVAGENT, VIOLENT, FLUFFY, RIDICULOUS.**

 **NOTHING IS UNREALISTIC: I WILL WRITE IT**

 **(okay, but obviously something that could actually happen, vampirism included.)**

 **Just no "Can Piper change into a unicorn and fly off into the sunset with Drew (who's been turned into a dolphin) on her back?!" XD**

 **Let me know any requests via reply or PM.**

 **;)**

 **Love y'all!**

 **-AG**


	2. Literal CHILDREN of Hydra

Chapter 1-

 **Yay! So many suggestions! So, first, to get some things out of the way:**

 **To** _ **Guest**_ **: Your request is actually a story in planning. :) I'm currently working out a possible prequel to CoH, it'll satisfy all of those needs. :D Still under 'not sure if this'll happen' but we'll see.**

 **Alright, so imma start with a fun Prompt from** _ **Elianora Annora**_ **. Her prompt was the fourth or fifth prompt submitted, but I'd like to start with it because its pretty upbeat and I've got an idea for it. To** _ **challengerlover**_ **and** _ **AOSISMYLIFE**_ **I swear your prompts will be next! I'm just taking a bit more time to plan them out. XD Same goes for your second prompt, EA! :)**

 **So,** _ **Elianora Annora**_ **'s prompt was: "What if the Challengers had to babysit kid turned syndicate (except Aeron, Kris and Killer)."**

 **Again, please remember that these prompts are just for fun, so the Challengers and Syndicate are gonna be a bit more laid back than usual, and also a bit more friendly and not-trying-to-kill-each-other. ;)**

 **Most of these will be AU so all the injuries/deaths in the CoH or SoS stories won't be here. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own marvel :'( And these wonderful characters belong to their respected owners. :)**

 **Shall we?**

 _The Playground – S.H.I.E.L.D. Base_

"Wait—I got him!—Hang on—Almost there—'at a boy! Come to—agh!" Spencer growled as his head collided with a close Asian friend's. The toddler that the two were chasing had turned abruptly to the left, Tamashi coming at him from the front and Spencer from the back. The turn had left them with matching red spots on their foreheads. The boys both fell backwards onto their bums from the impact.

" _Akuma supon!_ " Tamashi snarled, clutching his forehead. _(Devil Spawn!)_

"God," Spencer muttered, getting to his feet and offering a hand to Tamashi. "And I thought he was annoying as a teenager." Tamashi nodded in agreement, accepting Spencer's hand.

As it turns out, the Challengers weren't the only ones dealing with issues. From what S.H.I.E.L.D. could gather, the Syndicate had been sent out by Kris to interrogate some wrinkly old man, who supposedly possessed demonic abilities. Kris had told them that the man had long since lost his powers. Unfortunately for the Syndicate, Kris had lied.

Now, the Challengers were left to clean up the mess. They might as well be Damage Control.

The old man had placed some sort of magic-y voodoo on the Syndicate, leaving what now lay before the two Challengers.

A tiny male toddler, with striking white hair and a devilish grin, was scampering around the Playground's Lounge. One minute he was on the couch, the next minute he was jumping up and taking off, and then suddenly he was jumping up and down on the countertop. Not to mention that this certain toddler had the bothersome ability of abnormal accuracy, and had recently discovered that he very much enjoyed chucking whatever he got his grubby little mits on.

Spencer shoved Tamashi's head down as a spoon flew at both of their heads. Tamashi glared daggers at the little boy on the counter.

" _Daniel!_ " the Asian hissed. "Knock it off!"

The toddler frowned, what he said next had Spencer gaping. A hint: it included three words. "Go", " _blank_ " and "yourself".

Tamashi practically snarled, lunging at the kid, who went wide eyed and leapt from the countertop. "Brat!" Tamashi called.

Spencer face-palmed and turned to the rest of the room.

As he'd mentioned before, it wasn't just Daniel that had fallen victim to the spell. Naia, Rebecca, Dragunov and Emma had all suffered as well. It was only Vandella that had managed to—using her quick wits—avoid the sorcery a little, her age only decreasing by a couple years. She was now roughly the same age as the decreased syndicate were.

Little Naia was clinging to the couch cushions and screaming at the top of her lungs, puffy red eyes blown wide. Piper clutched her ankles tightly, yanking the older (now younger?) girl with all of her might.

"Come on Naia! This is getting ridiculous!" the renowned Siren shouted with an aggravated tone.

Meanwhile, a miniaturized Dragunov had somehow managed to climb up Lachlan's 5' 7" form and was currently perched on the Irish Born's shoulders, tiny fingers holding clumps of Lachlan's hair in a vicelike hold. Lachlan had brought up his arms, trying to remove the child, but Dragunov tightened his hold every time Lachlan's hands drew near.

Eleanor was looking around nervously. She crouched down and peered under the couch, got up and opened each kitchen cabinet. All the while calling "Emma? Emma, where'd you go?" Along with mutters of "I just had her. How the heck did she disappear?"

Vandella was throwing a tantrum. Her arms were crossed and her bottom lip jutted out, narrowed eyes glaring down her tormentor. Drew stood before her. He had disliked the idea of using his extra limbs to grab her, but was starting to consider it. Vandella stomped her foot on the ground, "Why can't I have them?! It's not using them!"

Drew immediately answered, fingering his temples in a bothered manor. " _Firstly_ , he's not an _it_ , he's _Spencer!_ Secondly, he _is_ using them! They're his _eyes!_ " Drew growled evenly, obviously trying his very hardest not to blow a fuse—or ten. On the other hand, Spencer was starting to fear for his safety.

One was missing. Spencer lifted his head to see Rebecca peering back down at him. She sat on the top of the fridge with determined eyes. They turned to slits as Spencer met her eyes.

"Alright you little sass-dispenser," Spencer murmured to himself. "Let's do this thing." He cracked his knuckles and lunged with a battle-cry. Rebecca let out a shriek of anger as Spencer reached the fridge. The copper-haired boy threw an arm up, not quite tall enough to see the top of the refrigerator. He let out a shocked shout as a set of teeth clamped down on his hand. Recoiling, he quickly retracted his hand and cradled it close to his chest. The little demon had nearly broken the skin! Angry red marks dotted his palm and the back of his hand.

One and a half hours. It had been one and half hours that they'd been doing this.

Luckily, the Syndicate had neglected to notice the door and/or how to open it. The entire team of Challengers constantly sent subtle looks to it, double checking to make sure it was still closed, and that none of the Toddler Syndicate had found it.

Of course luck never, _ever_ lasts for the Challengers, much less Spencer.

The door swung open, earning the attention of everyone in the room. Things seemed to progress in slow motion.

"No!" Lachlan shouted, lunging at the door, in an attempt to close it. Dragunov's mouth fell open and he dug his fingers into Lachlan's hair, near strangling the Irish with his tiny legs, and almost getting thrown from Lachlan's shoulders.

"Stop!" Piper yelped, releasing Naia's ankles. Naia fell to the sofa with an grunt.

Drew gawked, turning and lunging, much to Vandella's surprise.

Tamashi was distracted long enough for Daniel to aim a grapefruit spoon at his head, giving the Asian boy a nasty cut across his cheek.

Spencer's eyes widened, and he turned towards the door, but he was also quickly distracted as Rebecca leapt from the fridge onto Spencer's head, barely missing taking him to the floor.

The door flew open and revealed an overly-joyful looking Pat. "The party has—!" she stopped, scowling and taking in the picture before her. "—arrived?"

"Did I win the bet?!" came a call from behind Pat, outside of the door. It was Skylier's voice.

"No, dimwit, you didn't win the bet!" Marie answered loudly. The three crowded into the room. "Look," she threw a hand at Piper, and then at Drew. "They're not even sitting together, much less—you know, doing… _it!_ "

"Psh," Skylier huffed as Victor entered behind them. "Then why the heck were they in here so long? And why weren't we aloud to come in?"

"Why not ask them yourself," retorted Marie. Victor shook his head in an annoyed manor, like the two girls were lowering his IQ just by speaking.

Everyone had frozen mid-action, tiny Syndicate included, at the loud interruption. Pat still had a confused look upon her face. Spencer watched as her violet eyes scanned over the room, taking in the small Syndicate. "I can't but my finger on it, but something's wrong with this picture." She announced finally.

Spencer deflated, letting out a long sigh. Even Little Rebecca, who was perched _on_ his head, face-palmed. That was when things took a turn for the worse. Remember that bad luck that Spencer had mentioned? It was taking center stage.

Simultaneously, every single one of the Syndicate Toddlers scrambled to the door at once. Rebecca pushed off of Spencer's face like a springboard, and sprinted for her life. Daniel bit into Tamashi's arm (the ninja had somehow managed to capture the little brat, arms wrapped tightly around the kid's waist). The Teleporter's arm was only protected by a thin cotton sleeve, part of his black and white long-sleeved baseball t-shirt. He cursed loudly in Japanese and released, giving Daniel enough time to lunge.

On the other side of the room, Dragunov shoved Lachlan's head forwards, earning an aggravated growl from the leader, and pounced at Victor instead. The Strategist ducked, but Dragunov flew right above his head, towards the door. Vandella took the opportunity and rushed forwards, performing an impressive axe-kick and kicking Drew where it counted. The Striped boy fell to his knees with a…well, Drew would be embarrassed later on at the lack of manliness that the noise he made provided, and tears welled in his eyes. Vandella rushed after her friends.

Naia jumped over the backrest of the couch, racing at the door. By now Pat, Skylier, Marie and Victor were frantically trying to contain them. Naia ran through Victor's legs, the boy being a good amount taller than her.

Emma suddenly popped out of the refrigerator, and Spencer suddenly found his nose connecting with the fast opening door. The girl jumped, used Spencer to cushion her landing, and took off.

The team sat in a dead silence, only aggravated breathing hissing through the air. Tamashi rubbed angrily at his bite-marked arm, wiping at the small bleeding cut across his cheek from the earlier thrown grapefruit spoon. Lachlan ran two hands through his wavy hair, a very ticked off frown on his face. Piper had trotted over to Drew, who was laying on the ground on his side, knees brought up. 'Where the sun don't shine' was probably seriously bruised.

Meanwhile, Eleanor had flopped down on the couch after Emma's surprise appearance out of the fridge. She now grumbled 'Why the fridge?! Who goes _inside_ of the fridge?!' Spencer wasn't much better. He was still sprawled out of the floor, imagining those old cartoons he watched in S.H.I.E.L.D., where the characters would get stampeded and marked up with black footprints. He felt very similar.

Tamashi appeared above him, this time it was him offering the hand. Spencer took it and heaved himself to his feet.

"This is _greeeeaaaat_ ," glowered the ninja.

"Alrighty! Leprechaun!" shouted Pat abruptly, everyone's gazes snapping over to her. "What do we do?"

Lachlan frowned. "God, sometimes being leader sucks…" he mumbled. " _Okay_ , fan out. Piper with Drew, go after Naia. Tamashi and Spencer," Spencer perked up. "You're gonna go find Daniel." The force-field wielder let out another long sigh. "Skylier, you're with me, we're gonna go after Dragunov. Pat, take Victor and go look for Rebecca. Eleanor, can you go find Emma?" a nod. "Marie, go track down Vandella."

Everyone gave nods of agreement, and separated into their designated teams.

"Good," Lachlan said, confidence sparkling in his eyes. "Let's move."

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

 _S.H.I.E.L.D. Corridor 133_

 _The Playground – S.H.I.E.L.D. Base_

Drew hummed to himself as he and Piper jogged down the corridor. They were heading for the cafeteria.

"How did she get so far in so little time?!" Piper moaned. They'd been searching for fifteen-ish minutes, sprinting the entire time.

"Maybe her telepathy enhances her speed, or something?" considered Drew.

Piper smiled. "Uh huh, I'm sure that's it."

"You're saying it like I'm wrong," Drew returned the smile.

"And what if I am?" Piper inquired with a raised eyebrow, turning to him with a playful smirk.

"Piper," he warned with a roll of his eyes.

She grinned back, "Yes, Drew?" she said in a romantic tone only used when the two were alone and the other boys—well, mainly just Tamashi and Spencer—could tease her for it.

" _Siren_ ," he quirked, "We're working."

Piper laughed, her pearly white teeth showing. Drew marveled. God. He should really just ask her out. Get it over with before something ridiculous happens, or their current career choices come back and bite them in the rears.

Drew clenched his fists nervously. His extra limbs tingled anxiously. "Hey Piper, I was just wondering if—"

"There she is!" Piper suddenly squawked. Drew's eyebrows shot upwards in surprise. He looked back ahead to see Tiny Naia's eyes widen. She was yanking at the large cafeteria doors, but her size was her enemy. The little telepath turned and darted away, right as Drew and Piper reached her. Drew's fingers skimmed her shirt, and then she was gone.

"She's fast!" he exclaimed out loud as the chase continued.

"Yea, no kidding!" Piper agreed.

The two heroes took off down the hallway, nearly trampling a couple S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on their lunch break. Drew stumbled and Piper rebalanced him. Piper almost tackled Agent Coulson, but Drew grabbed her arm and tugged her out of the way.

"Sorry Director!" Piper called over her shoulder as the two continued.

"What in the bloody hell is going on?!" Hunter, who emerged from Coulson's office a few seconds later, cried.

"Long story!" acknowledged Stripes. He frowned. "It's—uh—a training thing!"

Hunter didn't seem convinced, but Drew and Piper had just turned the corner out of that hallway. Drew easily spotted the small Italian girl in the middle of the next hallway. She might've been fast, but the two Challengers had the advantage of leg length.

Drew extended his extra arms and ordered them forwards.

They wrapped first around Naia's waist, gently—but forcefully—pulling her backwards. Next came the feet, and then the wrists. Naia let out a gasp, before she sobbed loudly, falling into total breakdown. Feeling awful for treating a little kid terribly—albeit said kid being _Naia_ —he quickly readjusted his arms, forming them into something that resembled a child harness, with a leash.

He reeled her back in, picking her up carefully.

"It's okay," he soothed, brushing some hair out of her eyes. Drew felt incredibly awkward in doing so. This girl was a year older than him. He tried to picture Tiny Naia as a whole other person. This wasn't Naia, this was… _Naomi_. Yea…okay…Naomi…

"What're you _doing_?" Piper mouthed with almost _concerned_ eyes, like Drew was losing his sanity, watching as Drew bounced her gently.

"She's just a kid," he shrugged. Naomi sniffled, wiping her eyes. "Right Naomi?" Naia titled her head at the name, but nodded nonetheless.

"Naomi?" Piper inquired. The two began to walk back in the direction of the lounge.

"Well, she's not _Naia_ , is she?" explained Drew. "If it was Naia, she would be trying to kill us."

Piper gave a teasing grin, but her eyes filled with concern. "Yea, don't worry, I'm not gonna let that happen."

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

 _S.H.I.E.L.D. Corridor 109_

 _The Playground – S.H.I.E.L.D. Base_

Eleanor exited the lounge swiftly. She whipped around the corner and—

Her head connected with a thick chest plate.

Letting out a grunt, Eleanor tumbled backwards onto her butt and looked up with a spotted gaze. "Ow." She muttered. An alien with icy blue skin peered back down at her.

"Apologies, Eleanor," Daedre said evenly. He gave her his hand and she took it, nearly getting thrown into the ceiling as Daedre clasped her hand and propelled her to her feet. "What are you in search of?" He sounded eager to find some action. Eleanor had to admit, she and the rest of the team were getting restless with the lack of fighting lately.

"Um…" she'd been told not to tell anyone. 'Only us. Only the Challengers can know, Eleanor,' that's what Lachlan had said. But…Daedre had become her closest friend. And…he was _technically_ a Challenger…right? Daedre titled his head curiously, awaiting an answer. Eleanor took in a deep breath and held it.

"OkaySoBasicallyWhatHappenedIsThatKrisSentTheSyndicateToGoBeatUpSomeMagicGuyButHeDidSomethingAnd—"

"Slow down," Daedre interrupted sternly. He rested an icy blue hand on the 13 year old's shoulder.

She shakily released the breath she had been keeping in and started over. "Okay, so Kris sent the Syndicate after some wrinkly old demon guy. And apparently he cast some sort of magic-y thing on them," she wiggled her fingers at him. "And now they're all kids!" she whisper-shouted that last part, as an agent was walking by at the time.

Daedre blinked at her in disbelief. "They are…adolescents?" Eleanor gave a small nod.

"How unfortunate," concluded Daedre. Eleanor frowned. "Do you require my assistance?"

Eleanor considered. "No I…" it was then that she caught sight of Emma in the background, pulling a Taser out of an unaware S.H.I.E.L.D. agent's holster. "Yes! Yes!" she freaked. "Help needed!"

Daedre was startled from the sudden outburst, and became even more startled when Eleanor side-stepped him and sprinted full speed down the hallway. He didn't argue however, and quickly chased after her.

Eleanor basically tackled Emma just as she reached the Taser. Lucky for Eleanor, and the agent, the little girl didn't turn off the safety, so her weapon was ultimately useless. Eleanor quickly snatched it and tossed it to Daedre, who caught it easily.

"May I?" asked Daedre as he handed the agent back his Taser.

"Hm?" Eleanor inquired with a raised eyebrow. She flicked a glance to Emma. "Oh…alright…"

Eleanor handed the tiny girl over. Daedre took Emma gently and situated her in a piggyback, which seemed to entertain the shrunken Syndicate member. The tiny one giggled gleefully and gave an awkward hug.

Eleanor grinned. "You're pretty good at that."

Daedre, who obviously knew it, raised a teasing eyebrow. "Am I?"

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

 _S.H.I.E.L.D. Armory_

 _The Playground – S.H.I.E.L.D. Base_

"How in the freaking world did he get a gun?! How can even hold it?! That thing is huge!" Skylier shouted over the noise of a machine gun opening fire.

"How am I supposed to know?!" demanded Lachlan from where he was ducked behind a large storage crate, Anguish suit in place. "I was more so wondering how he knew the access codes!"

Skylier's eyes widened. "Oh my God! How did he know those?!"

Lachlan gave her an 'exactly!' face, he stood and aimed a small projectile at Dragunov, who was chaotically firing at the two.

"Make a run for it?" suggested Skylier.

Lachlan gave a nod as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents let out shouts of 'Hey!', the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents themselves were undamaged, but the expensive machinery that they were working hard to build now looked like Swiss cheese.

Skylier concentrated and felt herself meld with the air. Nothing could hit her now. Well, except the bottoms of her feet, because if she shifted her density there she would sink right into the floor. Lachlan stood up in his bulletproof suit and the two dashed at Dragunov, who was still glaring and firing.

Lachlan practically tackled Dragunov, ducking and rolling so that he would take the brunt of the impact. Skylier swiped the kid's gun and handed it to an oncoming agent. Meanwhile, Lachlan put Dragunov in a vicelike grip and the two began carrying him back to the main group.

The kid was a handful. How his parents had managed to keep him under control was way beyond her.

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

 _The Basement_

 _The Playground – S.H.I.E.L.D. Base_

"The devil lurks in the depths of the shadows."

Pat heard Victor sigh at her remark.

"What?" she inquired, holding up the flashlight they'd snatched, Victor holding his own. "It's a…well…it's a…quote…from..." she paused, thinking back for a second. Who was that a quote from? Shit. Wasn't it that guy she had killed on that sacred land…shoot….wasn't that devil her? "…somebody that I used to know…"

She then continued, dropping into an enthusiastic performance of 'Somebody that I Used to Know' by _Gotye_.

"Kill me now," huffed Victor in the dark.

"If you insist," agreed Pat.

"Kidding," he corrected quickly.

"I know. I—"

Pat froze at the same time as Victor halted. A practically silent pair of footsteps stopped in the dark.

"Did you?" he whispered.

"Yup."

"Think it was…?"

"Uh huh."

"Here Becca, Becca, Becca," Pat whispered.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"What? It's what my mom did for me."

"You're insane."

"I know you are but what am I?"

"I hate you."

"I love you too."

"Shut up."

She stuck her tongue out in the dark.

"Flashlights off," the little depression dispenser ordered quietly.

"Yea yea," grumbled Pat, flicking off the flashlight. Victor copied the movement. A near hiss cut through the air. "Um…" Pat frowned in slight discomfort. She couldn't die, but she wasn't looking forwards to losing a toe…or toes…Been there. Done that. No fun.

"Rebecca?" she cooed unsurely.

"Go'way," snarled Rebecca from what sounded like everywhere at once.

"For a high class S.H.I.E.L.D. facility," muttered Pat subtly to Victor, "You'd think they could get some lighting up in here."

"You're telling me," acknowledged Victor as he tripped over something. The two stopped and Pat reached down to pick it up.

"OH MY GOD IT'S A HAND!" she shrieked, throwing it at Victor. She watched him with wide eyes, her eyes having adjusted to the dark.

Victor's eyes widened and he swatted it away.

"Not funny Coren," he barked angrily.

"Whoa, down boy," she commanded between laughs. It wasn't a hand, it was some kid's shoe. Some kid had managed to drop their shoe through the—"She's close!" Pat shouted, feeling like a dinosaur hunter from one of the old movies she'd watched. "I can smell it!"

"As if," Victor griped, obviously pissed off.

"Aw come on, sweetie," Pat smirked, nudging his arm. She loved messing with him. It was just so… _easy_. Especially the fake flirting. He hated that crap. Was it really fake though? Yea. 'Course it was. What else would it be? She didn't like him like that. Did she? No. Nah. Nope. _Well_ …nah…mayb—

Another pair of footsteps ran past and this time Pat felt something skim her leg. She instinctively grabbed at her katanas, only to find them absent. Right. Someone—COUGH COUGH _LACHLAN_ COUGH—had said no killing. No killing in the Playground. Kids at play, and all that jazz.

"Gotcha!" Pat felt her hand connect with someone's face.

"I swear to God!" Victor all but hissed, clutching his nose.

"Whoops. Thought you were Rebecca."

"I'm not."

"Aha! Gotcha!"

This time Victor deflected, ducking under her fist.

"I just said I'm not Rebecca!"

"I was aiming for you that time."

"God help me."

"Psh, ya big baby."

"I'm older than you."

"Technically I'm older than you. I mean, I've died like…200 times…which means I've lived like…200 lives…so I'm like…200 lives older than you…"

"And yet I'm somehow 500 times more mature."

"Point taken…hey…" Pat paused. "Do you smell burning?"

Victor sniffed, gagged, and clutched his nose again. "Ack—what _is_ that?"

"Ha! You sound like Donald Duck," she cackled.

"Pat," he growled.

"Right, ummm," she scanned the area. Not the ceiling. Not the floor. Was she okay? Not her head. Not her shoulders. Heh…HeadShouldersKneesAndToes…Knees and toes…HeadShouldersKneesAnd—oh….

"I found the problem!" she shouted triumphantly.

"What is it?" questioned Victor uncertainly.

"Rebecca appears to have swiped a piece of my calf."

"What." He didn't say it as a question, he said it as a statement of disbelief.

"Ha! Wait a minute! No you don't you brat!" Pat snatched Rebecca up in one swoop. The girl kicked and screamed, biting Pat's arm and kicking at her furiously. The room alit as firing hot magma dripped from her hands, although she didn't look to be able to manage more than a couple drops at a time.

Tucking the furious toddler under her arm, she and Victor began their exit through the pitch black.

Pat fidgeted with her singed right leg, muscle tissues slowly winding back together. "Yup. Man, poor Righty. He was havin' a bad day too."

"Your _leg_? Your leg was having a bad day…" sighed Victor, in what sounded like disappointment.

"Mhm. I hit him on the edge of my desk this morning, and then I dropped some hot cereal eggs from breakfast—"

"What? Hot…cereal…eggs?"

"Don't judge. Anyways, I dropped those on him, and then May broke the leg bone—"

"Tibia?"

"No not Tallulah, _May_. And then he didn't heal quite right, so I re-broke him so I could fix it, and then he gets all burned up," she gave an exasperated sigh.

"You _re-broke_ your leg?" now Victor just sounded like the kid who'd gotten stuck partnered with the weirdest student in class. There was a brief silence. "…your leg is a _him_?"

"Oh yea, sure, like you don't call your legs girls."

"I don't," Victor looked offended at the idea. His eyes narrowed again. "I don't call my legs any gender. They're _legs!_ "

"That's…weird…"

"No, it's not. No one calls their legs genders."

Pat frowned. "Don't listen to him, Righty."

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

 _The Lab_

 _The Playground – S.H.I.E.L.D. Base_

Lana swatted angrily at Vandella. Her eyes widened and she brought a thick text book up in front of her face as the tiny girl fired a beam of stinging laser at the biochemist. Lana lowered the book and looked at it in astonishment. A crisp hole had been burnt into the back. She shouted again as another beam was fired, and leapt behind the nearest desk.

Okay, okay, okay, stay calm.

She couldn't get close enough to possess the young girl, but she was still a genius in her time. She got to her feet and chucked a glass beaker. It shattered next to Vandella's leg and she snarled, lunging. The door to the lab swung open with a loud creak and Annaleise and Marie appeared.

"What the _hell_ going on?!" a very angry scientist demanded loudly. "I worked for eight hours on that paperwork!" she snapped, throwing a hand at the pile of ashes on the desktop. " _Eight hours!_ Hand freaking written!"

"It's not _our_ fault you're old fashioned and didn't type it up!" retorted Marie, she attempted holding Vandella in a telekinetic grip, but dropped to the floor as a laser cut a slice out of the wall where her head had been.

Lana answered with a scowl and in turn pointed an aggravated finger at the laptop on another desk, now cut in half. "You owe me a laptop."

"I can pay for that," promised Annaleise. "Sorry Lana," she sighed, jumping back behind a containment unit for materials. "I can pay for that to…"

"Isn't your paycheck like…five dollars an hour?" questioned Marie with a raised eyebrow as she deflected a beam with her powers.

"Well…it's more than five, but it ain't much," replied Annaleise with a sigh.

"Great," grumbled Lana. She threw another beaker at Vandella.

"Come on Short Stack, time to go," ordered Marie with a glare and an angry throw of her hand. The throw sent Vandella flying into a nearby officer chair, tying her town with invisible ropes. Annaleise approached cautiously, as Vandella appeared to be unconscious, but ended up leaping to the right as a beam barely missed releasing her intestines.

"I hate this!" shouted Lana angrily as she watched another laptop go up in flames. "Take care of it!"

"What do you think we're doing?!" Marie snarled, trying again to get closer. "This isn't exactly fun for us!"

Lana watched Marie concentrate, and as the next beam it jerked mid-air, directing up into the ceiling. Vandella scowled and threw another beam, only to have that one deflected as well.

"You're pissing me off, you know that?" grumbled Marie as she approached. Thinking quickly, she lifted a shred of high-tech, laser-proof fabric off of one of a fried desk and wrapped it around the right side of the girl's head, where the bionic eye was. Vandella growled and thrashed angrily, but Marie had her in a death grip, and there was no way in hell she was releasing it.

"Geesh," huffed Annaleise. She sheathed her katana and walked over to Lana, helping the biochemist to her feet.

Calming herself, Lana turned to the heroes. "What on _earth_ is going on?" she asked, dropping back into her usual calm quiet tone.

"Well…" the two glanced at each other, speaking in unison. On a silent agreement, Annaleise continued. "See…this thing happened and…this guy…kinda…"

"Child-ified…" Marie chimed unsurely.

"The Syndicate…"

"And…they kinda…"

"Escaped…"

"So we were sorta…"

" _Trying_ to catch them…"

"But I ran into Annaleise on the way here…"

"So she explained it to me..."

"And she agreed to help…"

" _Annnd_ …yea…" Annaleise finished. Marie peered at Annaleise, Annaleise glanced back, the two shrugged and then turned back to Lana. Lana frowned.

"Gee. Thanks. I'd be totally lost without that…" she sighed. "So in simplicity, an entity of extraneous provenance administered a toxicant or necromancy, in turn recalibrating the deoxyribonucleic acid of the Syndicate."

She lifted her eyes to find Marie looking beyond lost, but found minor surprise when Annaleise smiled.

"Exactly!" she chirped. Right. Super intelligence. Forgot about that.

Marie raised an eyebrow at Annaleise, and then looked back at Lana. "Whatever. We're takin' the kid." She gave Annaleise a hard but friendly shove on the shoulder, pushing her towards Vandella, who was still growling. "Come on Flames, let's get her upstairs, I've got a date to get to."

"Uh huh," Annaleise laughed, while Lana cracked a smile. "Sure you do."

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

 _The Cafeteria_

 _The Playground – S.H.I.E.L.D. Base_

"Man, oh man, this place brings back memories," Spencer chimed, clapping his hands together.

"First place the team name was used," agreed Tamashi, flashing his eyes around for any sign of a white-topped boy.

"Alright, come on out Danny Boy!" sighed Spencer as they came to a stop in the center of the cafeteria.

"Suck it!" came a growled response. Tamashi glared in annoyance, but Spencer turned a small circle.

"Where the hell is he…?" the Force Field Wielder muttered.

"Duck!" the Asian next to him suddenly shouted, shoving him to the ground.

Spencer grimaced at the brand new crick in his neck, and his brows furrowed in surprise as a metal fork lodged itself into the wall where his eye had previously been. "What the hell?!" the teen all but snarled.

The two got back to their feet. Another fork came flying out of the kitchen area of the lunchroom, and Spencer quickly made a force field, the fork clattering to the ground. Tamashi teleported towards the large open door into the kitchen. There was silence as Spencer raised an unsure eyebrow and tried to peer into the kitchen.

A minute later Tamashi was back behind the force field, releasing a string of Japanese curses and rubbing at his eyes angrily with the palms of his hands.

"What happened?!" Spencer demanded.

"The little _akumu_ has a bottle of air freshener!" answered Tamashi with a hiss. Akumu..er…that was…demon or something…Spencer's brother had started teaching him Japanese insults and swearwords so that he could swear in front of Lachlan and not get slapped upside the head.

"Right, so no 'Porting in," noted Spencer. "Guess that just leaves my tactic then. Let's walk."

Tamashi gave a pissed off nod, following behind Spencer as he began walking towards the door, force field in place. They slipped into the open door, spoons, forks, _knives_ , and various fruit slamming into the invisible wall and clinking to the ground. Tamashi tensed, ready to teleport over and snatch the kid.

So you can imagine the duo's surprise when they were met by an empty kitchen.

"He was _just_ here," seethed the Asian.

"Chill, dude," calmed Spencer. He wasn't wrong. Daniel had just been here. Where could he have possibly gone? He—

Spencer turned just in time, hearing a grunt, to see Tamashi get shoved into the large storage freezer from behind by a small boy with white hair. The door was locked and Daniel turned to Spencer. Crappity crap crap. This space was _way_ too small, and there was _way_ too much furniture for Tamashi to teleport out and give him a hand.

"Come at me bro," challenged Spencer, readying his force field.

Daniel gave a snarky smirk and pulled a small kitchen knife. Winding up as if it was a baseball, he threw the utensil with all of his might, aiming for right between Spencer's eyes.

Spencer ducked of course, sending a prideful grin in the boy's direction. He paled considerably when he realized the boy was still grinning like an idiot. Confusion filling his face, Spencer stood once again, only to hear a string snap. Eyes widening and senses on alert, Spencer turned only to have a metal frying pan—which appeared to have been tied to the ceiling via rope (now cut by the knife)—connect with the side of his head.

Dizzy, in pain, and all around unhappy, Spencer stumbled a bit. The entire world tilted as the brunette tripped into the counter and tried to keep hold on his footing. He was seeing stars. And stripes. And squares. And everything in between.

"Agh…" he grunted after a few seconds, in a slight bit of shock. Spencer brought a hand to his head and cringed at the strange numbing pain that followed.

Meanwhile, Daniel cackled in the background, "You suck, you–"

It's safe to say the words would never _ever_ get repeated by Spencer, or Piper, Skye and probably Lachlan would threaten rinsing his mouth with soap.

Nauseous and trying to cling to the merry-go-round that was the world, Spencer watched in a dazed manor as Daniel made his escape. His knees eventually buckled, and the teen collapsed to the dirty kitchen floor. Spencer didn't know how long he laid there in a concussed stupor, but he managed to somewhat gather his bearings when someone else entered the kitchen.

"For Pinky Pie's sake, you can't do anything, can you?" grumbled Pat in a tone that was easily compared to a teasing older sister. The immortal jogged over to Spencer. "Whew. Man. He gotcha pretty good, didn't he?" She tenderly poked at his wound, to which he winced and tried to see straight.

A loud banging tuned back in and Spencer furrowed his brows in confusion.

"That banging is in my head, right?" Pat inquired, noticing his expression.

"Uh uh," Spencer disagreed with a feeble head shake.

"Then what…?"

Spencer jerked his head at the freezer, and froze when everything starting twirling again.

"'mashi," he muttered uselessly.

Pat's eyes widened, "Husband!" she cawed loudly, racing off to the freezer as Spencer's ears rung from the noise.

A loud creak signified the Asian's release, but Spencer didn't hear much else, because he then proceeded to roll over and puke over the floor.

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

 _The Cafeteria_

 _The Playground – S.H.I.E.L.D. Base_

"Oh my god, you've got to be kidding me."

Pat didn't like puke. Or having to clean it up. So, now pissed off about two things (Spencer puking, and finding her non-legalized husband in the freezer), she turned to the Asian behind her and demanded answers.

"What happened?"

Between chattering teeth (Tamashi had only dressed in a dark red muscle shirt, a pair of black soccer pants, and some sneakers) the Asian spoke, "D—Daniel, the d—dirtbag."

"Amen," nodded Pat. "So…what? He locked you in a freezer and smacked Spencer upside the head with…" she eyed the frying pan swinging back and forth from the ceiling. "a frying pan?"

Tamashi gave a chilled nod, arms crossed and hunched over, "And sprayed me with air freshener."

"No offense, honey, but you needed that after your training session this morning," rebuked Pat with a side smirk. Tamashi glared, shivering again. "Jesus Christ," muttered Pat in a frustrated tone. She began removing her baggy pink hoodie (size: Large, for comfort) and forked it over to the Asian.

Still shivering, Tamashi executed the best glare he could manage.

"Take it or I will kill you and put it on your corpse!" snapped Pat. She did care for the boys, even going as far as saying she loved them more than her pet unicorns, but sometimes they were real pains up her caboose. Tamashi snatched the sweatshirt and put it on, eyeing the sparkly purple unicorn on the front, before crossing his arms and pouting.

"You're like a freaking 3 year old," Pat scowled. Her emotion changed to a smirk, and she patted him on the head. "It's adorable."

He jerked away from her touch and she snickered, walking back over to Spencer. "Come on, up you go," she cooed, lifting him, a hand under each of his arms. Tamashi walked over and allowed Spencer to put an arm over his shoulders. Spencer sent a drowsy gaze at the sweatshirt.

"Not a word," warned the Asian. Spencer was obviously too tired anyways. The poor guy looked like the chicken Pat had drugged in Mexic—

"Pat?" Tamashi interrupted with a frustrated but concerned gaze.

"God! You drug a chicken one time!" she shouted.

Tamashi startled. "What…?"

"Never mind, let's just…" the immortal bobbed her head at Spencer. Tamashi nodded and the two managed to shuffle him out of the kitchen.

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

 _The Lounge_

 _The Playground – S.H.I.E.L.D. Base_

"I officially hate children," Skylier sighed as she deflated into the sofa.

"You didn't before this?" Marie demanded skeptically.

"Not really, I mean, I could tolerate them," she replied.

Everyone had returned to the lounge within the past two hours. The Infant Squad had been turned over to a collection of S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists and protection units, where a cure had been developed in the lab.

The only group yet to return was Tamashi, Spencer and Pat (who had gone off in search of them after they'd gone MIA). The door slid open and Skylier perked up. Bursting into laughter (along with a large portion of the group), Skylier held her stomach and wiped away fake tears.

"Wow, quite the— _heh_ —quite the look you got going on there."

Tamashi sent the devil's glare in her direction. The girlish pink hoodie he wore was in no way helping his menacing eyes. The sparkly purple unicorn didn't help either. Nor did the bright orange shock blanket over his shoulders. Skylier trailed off when she caught sight of Spencer holding an ice pack to his head and blinking blearily as he stumbled along.

"And what happened to him?"

"Concussion," responded Pat, herding the younger brother-like boy over to the second couch, where he flopped down and then proceeded to close his eyes, drifting into sleep.

"Ah hah," Skylier nodded. "Pain meds?"

"Yup."

"Um, T, not that I don't love the new look…" Marie said awkwardly as she approached the Asian. "And I do, I mean, if you're trying something new…?" a dash of hope in her voice. "Then that's cool, but I'm kinda hoping you're not going for the whole Pink and Purple Unicorn Thing."

"Relax," grumbled Tamashi. "It is in _no way_ ," he glared at the back of Pat's head. "Permanent."

"Yea, I want that back by the way," remarked Pat, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"And the orange?" continued Marie as she fingered the shock blanket.

"I'm not even in shock," explained the Asian with an eye roll.

Pat scoffed back, "No, but you were locked in a freezer for over half an hour, so…"

"What?" Marie snapped with an angered concern.

"Don't worry about it," Tamashi waved off.

Fifteen minutes later everyone had shared their stories.

"And he somehow got a machine gun?" Lana clarified. She had returned to the heroes to check their health.

"Yea," agreed Lachlan. "He could barely lift it, but he did, and it was _bad_ news."

"I'm pretty sure he was aiming for my heart," agreed Skylier uneasily as she rubbed her collar bone. "I fazed, but it's not the best feeling knowing someone tried to shoot you there." Marie patted her in a sisterly way.

"Well, at least you _could_ faze, I was nearly decapitated," she said.

"Twice," added Annaleise. "Each."

"My calf was just _gone!_ " Pat reiterated casually. It turned into a friendly competition.

"That laser woulda taken off my head."

"We were in complete darkness. Plus it was the basement, which just added to the horror movie."

"I was stuck with Pat in the basement."

"You loved it."

"Shut it Coren."

" _Anyways_ , did I mention the lasers?

"Many times, yes."

"Concussion," murmurs of being 'topped' filled the room.

"Locked. In a freezer."

All eyes went to Tamashi. "For 45 minutes."

"He wins," cheeped Eleanor.

"So, just so everyone knows, I'm never having kids," stated Piper with a tired smile.

"Yea, I'm for that," agreed Skylier.

"Same," nodded Marie.

"Unicorns are better anyways, right Vikki?"

"I swear to God, Coren, I will kill you."

 **Yea! Woo! I did it! It's done! And guys, guess what?! This chapter was** _ **6,670 WORDS LONG!**_ **I know right?! So I hope you all enjoyed it. I totally did. This was so much fun to write. XD Now, don't expect all of them to be this long, I'll type until I deem the chapter done, so some of them will be quite short. But I hope to satisfy all of your needs, and fulfill ALL OF YOUR requests! ;D**

 **Tell me which parts cracked you up! Which Syndicate Child is the most devilish? Which wouldn't you like to babysit? ;)**

 **Thanks again to Elianora Annora for the prompt!**

 **Small Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony, or any other references made. ;) Nor do I own S.H.I.E.L.D., Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., or any of the Challengers/Syndicate.**

 **I'd love more prompts! I've got tons but I'll always take more!**

 **Review with your thoughts! What made what you laugh? ;D**

 **Sincerely,**

 **AsgardianGrizzly**


	3. The Songbird's Sacrifice

Chapter 2-

 **Hey guys! I'm back! And boy have I got the chapter for you! ;D**

 **So, this prompt is from** _ **challengerlover**_ **(who is possibly the sweetest person I have ever met). Before I begin, I have to put up the SPOILER WARNING! Now, I'm assuming you've all read the C.o.H. and S.o.S. stories, but just in case you haven't, you've been warned.**

 **So,** _ **challengerlover**_ **requested: "What if Piper died instead of Drew?"**

 **That's what you're gonna be seeing in this chapter, so be prepared for some mushy heart-wrenching tear-streaming sad stuff (if I do this right..XD)**

 **A quick note: I'm going to try to go in order for requests, unless one specifically catches my eye)**

 **Now then, shall we?**

 **Also quickly: Some of this is from the original Sacrifice chapters, because I think the emotion was at its best at that time. So just a fair warning in case you guys feel any déjà vu.**

 **Shall we?**

 _Sacrifice Part 1_

 _Rand Corps Building – New York City_

Piper growled, throwing another punch in Rebecca's direction. She had the upper hand. Screaming loudly at her face, Rebecca shouted and clutched her ears. Piper threw another punch as the two wrestled. A blazing headache cut her off and she stumbled. Rebecca kicked her hard in the stomach, and Piper gagged.

Through bleary eyes, she watched as Naia—finished psychically attacking Piper—turned her attention to the escaping group of people. Daedre and Tamashi had taken to supporting Rand, while Drew watched their backs, lashing out at anyone who came to close.

Another kick in the stomach and Piper grimaced, quickly swiping out Rebecca's feet from under her. Dazed, the girl remained on the floor and Piper swiftly turned her attention back to the fight. Naia, eyes glowing an ominous dark magenta, turned to Vandella, who gave a nod.

Before Piper could shout, scream or warn Drew, a searing beam hit him dead on, sending him flying back into a stone pillar. Drew fell to the ground, stunned, but Spencer seemed to pick up on what was happening. He and Lachlan were battling the brute, Dragunov. Spencer had his arms up, forming two mini shields to protect himself from the oncoming attack, he brought one arm to the side and Piper saw a shimmer as another invisible wall cut the room apart, separating the escaping trio from everyone else.

With Drew out of the picture, Naia turned her attention back to the escapees, noticing the shimmery texture of the force field. She snarled, and Piper watched as she lifted her hand to the ceiling above them.

"Lachlan!" Piper shrieked, not in her usual sonic demeanor, but loud enough to catch the Irish Born's attention. He double checked something with Spencer before running at the group. At the same time, Naia let out a shout of rage and the ceiling came crumbling down above the runaways. Piper, now picking up in a jog towards Naia, saw Lachlan leap through a hole in the force field and tackle Tamashi, the stone wreckage covering them immediately.

Piper's eyes widened and she lifted to a full sprint. They could be dead. They could be crushed and dead. They could be gone. They could be dead. Oh my god. They could be _dead_. She met eyes with Drew as he lifted himself off the floor, clutching his bruised stomach. Within the small gaze they shared, she ordered him to attend the fallen, and assured him she would take care of Naia.

Drew gave a reluctant nod and turned, running to the messy stone hill.

Piper looked back ahead, right as she connected with Naia, shoving her to the ground.

Naia seethed, landing harshly on her back. Piper reared up, bringing both fists down on Naia's shoulder. Naia cried out, but sent an angry mental attack in Piper's direction, giving her the mother of all headaches. Piper gave a shriek of both pain and rebelling and Naia recoiled, retreating from the Siren's mind.

The songbird threw another scream, penetrating Naia's eardrums and throwing the girl into an all-out rage.

Piper couldn't process anything as a bright glowing spear formed out of the corner of her eyes, and entered her side.

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

 _Sacrifice Part 2_

 _Rand Corps Building – New York City_

Eleanor was frozen with shock.

She knew that she was crying, the warm salty tears trailing down her cheeks, but she was too numb to feel any emotion. Everything had slowed down to a slug-like pace, taking its time as it crawled past the Challengers. And then everything sped up, going at an impossible speed.

Drew let out a severe cry. All at once his arms—all of them, every single one—emerged, cutting slices in his button up shirt and stretching to their full length, a good 10 feet. Drew's arms shot off in every direction, slicing stone apart, opening up massive pillars, breaking windows and whipping everywhere uncontrollably.

An arm flew at Eleanor's head, and she scrambled to a crouch in surprise. She curled in on herself as Drew's arm shattered a window, tiny pieces of glass raining down on her like a stinging thunderstorm.

Lachlan and Tamashi had been pinned by the fallen wreckage from Naia, although Tamashi was clinging to consciousness, both were struggling to free themselves. Spencer was close to Eleanor, a couple feet away, staring at Drew and then at Piper.

Eleanor shrieked in pain, the emotion finally coming through to her, tears trailing down her cheeks. She blasted a blinding white beam at Emma, sending her backwards up onto the balcony railing and then tumbling downwards into the tile floor.

Spencer shouted as well, more anger than sadness, and a sickening crunch sounded as Spencer's fist connected with Dragunov's jaw. He had previously dropped the force field he had been holding, concentration having been broken. The boy growled again, throwing a hand at Dragunov and shoving him deeper into the ground.

The bronze haired boy then tapped his communicator, shakily speaking. Eleanor could barely hear his cracking worried voice as he spoke a series of scrambled words, "C—Coulson—Piper's-she's—I—we don't—y-yea—yes—no—"

Pat had been battling Quintain. She grabbed his shoulders, scowling at the smirk that painted his face as he looked at Piper, and kneed him hard where the sun doesn't shine. Quintain's eyebrows shot upwards and he collapsed to his knees in pain. Pat kicked him across the head.

Piper was still stunned, crimson blood now dripping out of his torso and down onto Naia's stomach. Naia was glaring at Piper, but she seemed somewhat uncertain. Eleanor knew their history. Some might even say that had been friends back in the old days. Close to sisters that didn't get along, constantly teasing each other.

The psychic tilted her spear slightly and then extinguished it all together, the weapon obviously drained energy. Piper let out a frozen gasp as the spear left her torso and a crimson waterfall stained Naia's shirt. She released a series of choked breaths, falling next to Naia onto her back. Piper was shocked, eyes wide as she weakly lifted her head and stared at her injury, before collapsing back onto her back in a series of hitched breaths.

"Piper!" Eleanor screamed loudly. Her body finally unfroze, moving at full speed as she hurriedly ran at Piper, tripping over her own feet. The air next to her shimmered as she ran, Spencer had put up a force field between the villains and the heroes. The villains occupied one half of the room, near the main entrance, and the heroes occupied the other half, near the emergency exit.

The sounds around Eleanor were chaotic as she collapsed next to Piper. As she brought the songbird's head into her lap she turned and watched through teary eyes as Spencer used a force field to deflect one of Drew's arms and calmed his chaotic rage. Drew was crying, eyes red and face streaked. His arms retreated in a way that reminded Eleanor of a frightened mouse retreating into its burrow.

Spencer hurried over to Piper, Drew shakily running over to Lachlan and Tamashi to unbury them. Lachlan was shouting something at the two, demanding if Piper was okay, even though he obviously knew the answer. Tamashi was cursing and roaring multiple threats on Naia's head.

Eleanor blocked it all out. She pressed her hands onto Piper's wound, blood quickly stained her palms red.

"Piper?" She asked between sobs. Piper's face was contorted in pain, her eyes were slits. "Piper?" She asked again shakily. Her eyelids fluttered. "Piper, you can't go to sleep. Not yet." She cried. She felt something slip under her hands and stop the bleeding. Something invisible. A force field, she realized.

Looking up to Spencer, who was standing over Piper and Eleanor protectively, she saw the bronze haired boy was breathing in an exhausted manor, pale and shaky as he held up the massive wall and the invisible bandage. The ends of Piper's ponytail stained with dark red, like some sort of cruel hair dye.

"Piper," Eleanor begged, taking the Siren's hand in her smaller ones, "Please. Come on," she pressed, "Don't close your eyes. You have to keep your eyes open. Drew and Daedre are trying to get Lachlan and Tamashi free. We're gonna get out of here." She nodded, and quickly realized she was trying to convince herself, not Piper.

Piper attempted a tired nod, her head lazily bobbing, but her blinking had slowed and her eyelids drooped. "Piper please," Eleanor continued, "Coulson's coming and—and we're gonna—we're gonna get you out of here." She choked, tears hitching her voice. "Please Piper, please," she laid down next to her older sister, ignoring as Piper's blood turned one whole side of her body red.

Eleanor's voice was a small whispery sob as she spoke, her cheek staining red.

"Piper, please, you're my only sister."

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

Lachlan was shouting, meaner than he had intended, commanding Drew to unbury him, yelling at Daedre to unpin him from under these stones. Daedre was using a shoulder cannon that had emerged from his armor to carve away at the rocks. Rand had awoken, weakened but able to stand. He was standing, leaning on a pillar, but he had insisted that they save their friends.

"Come on!" Tamashi growled beside him, shoving at the rocks and cutting open his palms.

Drew wiped his eyes for the umpteenth time, digging furiously at the stones. He had a look of pure anger on his face, nothing like the friendly boy Lachlan knew. His hands were bleeding, but he didn't stop. He was obviously trying not to think about Piper, because he refused to look. Suddenly the rocks jolted, the heaviest stone hovered into the air. Seemingly balancing on an invisible platform. Lachlan and Drew turned their heads to see Spencer, eyes closed, lip bleeding from biting it so hard, arms shaking as he held up the three force fields he was supporting.

Lachlan looked from Spencer to Drew, to Daedre, to Rand, and finally to Eleanor and Piper. Eleanor was sobbing over Piper, who's chest was faintly rising and falling. Lachlan turned his head again, this time looking at Tamashi. Lachlan looked into Tamashi's eyes and the two shared an understanding. Tamashi gave a brief nod, quitting his effort in unburying himself.

Lachlan looked back at Drew, "Drew." He said quietly. He continued digging, growling furiously. "Drew."

"No," Drew shook his head.

"Drew, go," Lachlan urged.

"No, no way," Drew shook her head more furiously, tears trailing his cheeks. "You're my brothers. I'm not leaving."

"Drew," Lachlan met her eyes, "Go."

"Piper needs you," Tamashi agreed.

Drew let out a weak cry of anger before getting up and running over to Piper, taking her in a bridal hold. It made Lachlan's heart clench, but he masked it with fake confidence. He was leader. This was his job.

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

Drew looked down at the dying girl in his arms. Spencer and Eleanor stumbled along behind him, Spencer focused on keeping the invisible bandage holding Drew's girlf— _friend's_ blood in. Daedre had taken point with Rand, while Pat had taken the back, guarding all of their asses. The alien and the immortal bantered, more of Pat shutting down every excuse Daedre could come up with. Soon it became silent between the two, the only sounds being Spencer and Eleanor's whispering. Spencer didn't look so hot, his entire frame was shaking, but Drew couldn't worry about his brother.

"Come on," Drew whispered, his eyes never moving from the girl in his arms. "Come on, beautiful, stay with me."

He'd lost control earlier. That was what scared him. His arms had released like wild animals let loose, and he had no control. That nearly killed his friends. It didn't, thankfully, but it could of.

"Piper, I swear," he continued uneasily. Chatting helped him stay calm. Usually. But it wasn't working now. He needed to stay calm. Why couldn't he stay calm? Catching his breath, Drew began again. "Piper, I swear, you can't die. Okay? I need you. Who else is gonna laugh at my jokes?"

He received a small groan and took it as a note to go faster. Practically shoving Daedre out of the way, he took point, running full sprint and ignoring the panicked sounds of protest coming from behind him. Slowed down by Rand and Spencer, Drew quickly disappeared from the others' gaze.

He didn't stop. Not for anything.

He would save Piper.

And no one in hell would stop him.

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

 _Sacrifice Part 3_

Spencer was broken.

He didn't know what to do.

Piper was the sister that he never had. Protective, reassuring, comforting. She was a tomboy sure, but she was still the mother hen of the group. She was always there. She was always there to cheer you up when you were down. She'd let you vent out on her, and then say that it was fine. Spencer remembered a time back in Hydra when he'd gotten so mad, he didn't even remember about what, and Piper had come to comfort him. He'd overreacted of course, he felt like he always did. So Piper had come and he'd used his powers, and she had ended up with a broken wrist.

And then? She got back to her feet and hugged him. She never said a word about it again. He had _attacked_ her, and she never— _not once_ —bothered him about it. The assholes back in Hydra didn't give two horse's behinds what they did to each other inside, as long as it wasn't killing, so Drew had reset Piper's bone, Eleanor had stitched it up, and Spencer had bandaged it. She would _always_ have that scar there, but Spencer had been there once when Agent May had asked her about it. All Piper had said was 'The men at Hydra made us do terrible things.'

It wasn't Hydra. It was him. But Piper never told anyone. She knew how they'd see him if she did. She protected him. Like she always did. And he was supposed to protect her. His powers were protection. He made shields and used them to protect. But he didn't this time. The one time he freaking needed it, and he had failed. What a useless load of crap he was.

He was exhausted. Mentally. Physically. _Spiritually_. Every single part of him just wanted to go die in a hole and just lay there. But nothing stopped him from jerking upright when the ER surgery room door opened slowly.

He tapped Eleanor and she opened her previously shut eyes, sitting up. Drew and Annaleise looked up from where they had been sitting, Annaleise comforting him to the best of her abilities. She'd flown in from the Big Apple. A long flight, but she'd done it for them.

Daedre sent the door a nervous glance from his chair. He'd had a 'chat' with May, Eleanor had told him. Chats with May weren't fun. Jemma appeared at the door, latex red gloves were on her hands. Spencer paled when he realized their original color of the gloves was pale blue, not red.

"Piper suffered an injury to her small intestines and she lost a _colossal_ amount of blood…she's been unconscious since you arrived and we…we think she'll succumb to her injuries…I'm sorry…" announced Jemma sadly.

Spencer felt himself weaken, even though he thought his energy was drained. Drew let out a pained groan and ran his hands through his hair. He shook with what would be crying if he hadn't already run out of tears. Spencer wasn't much better.

"You can go see him," Jemma offered, stepping aside.

Drew entered the room first, Annaleise at his heals. Spencer stood up but didn't move.

 _She'll succumb to her injuries_. The words echoed through his skull and he stared with wide eyes at the tile floor. He felt a tug at his hand and felt Eleanor pull him forwards. He walked, but not under his own control. He couldn't move. Not now. He felt…detached. Piper was going to die.

The doors closed with a clap and Spencer froze again. Piper was lying on a metal operating table. A series of wires and tubes formed her lifeline. She was pale, paler than usual by far. Her light brown hair splayed around her head like some sort of sick halo. She was more bandage than person. Her bright, joyful, _amazing_ blue eyes had been blocked by closed red eyelids.

Drew was shaking. Annaleise comforted him, but he just stared, unable to move. Daedre was hanging back, not wanting to get on anyone else's nerves. Eleanor bit her lip, and took a couple steps forwards. She stopped halfway to the table, but then continued, her facial expressions made it look like she was struggling.

Spencer took a couple slow steps forwards. One foot in front of the other. He felt something wither up inside of him when he saw his sister up close. Something bit him deep inside when he realized Tamashi and Lachlan wouldn't be here to say goodbye.

Eleanor took one of Piper's hands, but she flinched. Spencer stepped forwards, but didn't take Piper's hand. It would be cold. Cold meant death. Cold mean loneliness. Spencer didn't like either, so he didn't touch her.

Her pale skin seemed to shine off the metal operating table, glowing like she would wake up any minute. It was sick. Life was teasing them, laughing and making it look like she was fine, even when she wasn't. The slowing beep from the heart monitor only discouraged Piper's survival. It burrowed into Spencer's mind, every beep sounding like a fading echo in his skull.

"Should…should we say something?" Annaleise asked uncertainly, looking at Spencer.

Spencer didn't know why she was turning to him. Was he the oldest? He supposed he was. He didn't move. He didn't even breath. Because for a split second he didn't want to. He wanted to hide. He wanted to take his team and run. He wanted them to be safe. But he couldn't.

Force field's kept attack out, but they couldn't keep life in.

"Piper…"

Spencer dragged his eyes over to Eleanor.

"I ah…I just…I know how hard this is. I know that you're worried about Tamashi, and you're worried about Lachlan, and me, and Drew, and Spencer. I know that you…you wanted to protect us…that's why you did what you did…" Eleanor whimpered weakly, squeezing Piper's hand. "We'll…we'll be here…okay? You can visit us whenever you want…because….because we'll be okay…alright? You don't have to worry…You can let go. You don't…don't have to hurt anymore…" she stopped, biting her lip.

"You're our angel, Piper Dawn Harpers, you protect us. You keep us safe. You always make sure we're happy. But…you don't have to anymore. It's our turn…we…we'll keep _you_ happy this time, okay? Because…we don't…we just don't want you to be in pain. I know it's scary. I know you never wanted any of this but…"

She stopped, as if changing her mind about something. "You told me you wanted to read that book with Drew?"

Drew perked up a bit, lifting his head sadly.

"The romantic one?" she clarified, as if Piper would respond. "Well, y—you read it up there, and he—he'll read it d—down here, and w—we can all talk about it w—when we see you again…alright?" she broke off sobbing. "B—because my mom u—used to tell me that we could do anything a—as long as we were brave…she said everyone found happiness up there…and I know…our parents weren't the greatest…but…but she—she never lied to me…You're the bravest person I've ever met, Piper…you…w—whatever comes n—next…you'll face it, and you—you'll win. You'll b—be happy."

"So don't be scared Piper. P—please. B—because…we…we love you…" Eleanor broke, letting out a cry. She bent over, pressing Piper's hand to her forehead as she cried. And as Eleanor cried, the echoing beeping of the heart monitor slowed.

Until it stopped all together.

 **IM SO DEPRESSING. SERIOUSLY. I REREAD THE DREW SCENE AND I BASICALLY JUST LAID ON MY BED WITH A FICIONAL GRAY CLOUD OVER ME. God. Okay, so let me know what you guys thought. I was freaking crying—well, no I don't cry often, so I didn't really cry, but I was pretty dang close!**

 **Thanks again to challengerlover for the prompt! Let me know what you thought! And how I did. More prompts on the way!**

 **RIP AU Piper. (sorry lauraosnes, hope you don't mind!)**

 **-AG**


	4. Hydra Orphanage

Chapter 3-

 **The next prompt I received was from** _ **AOSISMYLIFE**_ **who requested: "Maybe one where some of the Challengers and some of the nicer villains (like Emma) are orphans in an orphanage where they're all mistreated and then they slowly begin to discover their powers, but they can be younger like 10-13"**

 **Oofta. Yea, this one was fun though. XD So, a few notes: I took out Daedre, because he's an alien, and (as Xy-Guy said in his submission form) he was actually test tube grown, so no childhood for him. I included all of the** _ **original**_ **Challengers, Naia and Daniel (it was partially necessary to the storyline) along with Emma , because of the request. :) There are cameos for some of the other characters.**

 **SO! Important note: I CHANGED THE PROMPT! I know, I shouldn't have, and it's not much. Instead of having them discover their powers, I have them discover unique talents. It's cooler than it sounds. You'll see. XD**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own the prompts. Don't own the characters. Don't own nothing.**

 **Ps. Dear challengerslover: your second request will be coming up, I'm just trying not to do two consecutive prompts from the same person. ;)**

 **Shall we?**

 **Oh, and Warning for language and drinking**

 _Hydra Orphanage – Owned by Marcus Stefans_

 _Queens – New York_

"Get in there ye little bitch!"

A figure was thrown into the crowded girl's dorm room. She landed on the floor and coughed harshly.

Emma yanked the covers up to her chin. _Go away, go away, go away, don't see me, please don't see me._ The door slammed shut and Emma was torn. Should she stay in her bed, or should she go help? She was sane. She wasn't like that Coren girl. She knew what she was doing.

So she chose to help.

Pushing down the covers and slipping off the bed, her bare feet met the splintery wooden floor, but could barely feel it. She stared uncertainly at the coughing figure on the ground. She was 10 now. She wasn't scared. Approaching with light footsteps, she wrinkled her pale pink nightgown in sweaty hands.

"Are…are you alright?" she whispered. If Mr. Stefans heard her, she'd get a whipping. His son was nice. She wanted his son to come back. He'd visited once, and she'd never seen him again.

"I'm fine," the girl snapped back. She wiped her mouth and Emma saw blood staining it. The winds were only covered by ratty pieces of cloth with giant holes worn into them. Emma crouched next to the girl.

"I'm Emma," she introduced herself. The girl was older than her, 12 or 13. Blankets ruffling caught her attention.

"Mhmm…" came a tired groan. "Emma? Is that you? Are you okay?" came the concerned whisper.

"I'm fine, Ellie, but Mr. Stefans dropped someone off…"

Eleanor was the only one in the place who was her age. All of the others were older. Except Vandella, but she was adopted two days ago. She was lucky. Emma wasn't. More sheets rumpling and a taller girl stepped out from under her ratty covers. She wore a pale blue nightgown, matching her eyes.

"What's your name?" the girl asked it gently, but Eleanor knew the girl wouldn't hesitate tackling the new girl if there was sign of threat.

"Naia," answered the new girl. She got to her feet, now standing a good foot taller than Emma. She had pretty long black hair, and she had been dressed in her own pink nightgown.

"What's going on?" grumbled a new voice from her own bed. A girl with blonde hair shaved off on one side lifted her head, bed hair her enemy.

"Is it Stefans again?" mused a third tired girl from her own bunk. There were eight total beds, all occupied except one.

"God, I hope not," added a fourth, quietly as if Stefans would jump on them any moment.

"It's fine Pat, go back to bed, just someone new. You too Marie, Skylier," assured the other girl.

"Whatever," nodded Pat, rolling over so she was facing away from them.

Pat scared Emma. She was a little…unsteady…at times…

"M'kay," Marie tucked back into her own blankets.

"Yup, you can handle this," smirked Skylier from her bed.

"Nice to meet you," the other girl nodded. "I'm Piper. That's Emma, over there is Eleanor. Sorry you ended up here."

"Yea, me too," huffed Naia. She took in the area around her, obviously unimpressed.

"That bed is open," Emma assisted, gesturing to the one free bunk.

"Yea," was all Naia said before clambering over and sitting down. The bed—previously Vandella's—was closest to the window, and Naia gazed outside longingly.

"Alright, back to bed," Piper urged, helping Emma up and leading her back to her bed. She tucked Emma in like she usually did, helped Eleanor back under her covers, said her goodnights, and then returned to her own bunk.

Emma didn't sleep much that night. She watched Naia instead. She was the oldest now, or at least, Emma assumed so. Piper was 11, so she had been the oldest. Well, no, Pat Coren was the oldest, but she never acted like it, so Emma didn't count her. And Marie and Skylier were older by one year, but Piper was more mature.

Maybe Mr. Stefans would be nicer to Naia. Emma hoped so. No one deserved what they received. Then again, maybe Mr. Stefans would be sleeping tomorrow. He did that sometimes, just kinda stumbled up to his room and passed out.

Piper had told her and Eleanor once that it was because of his drinking. Figures. Stefans drank three bottles a day and his breath always reeked of alcohol.

With the wary thought circling her mind, Emma eventually drifted off.

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

 _Girl's Side_

 _The Main Hallway_

"What do you mean it's split in half?!" Naia hissed, tugging again at the locked door.

Emma gave a shrug. "It's…it's just split in half. The mansion is so big that Mr. Stefans put girls in one side and boys in the other. The only way to get from one side to the other is through this door."

"And he locks it?" the newer girl growled, yanking hard on the knob.

"Mhm," nodded Emma. "He doesn't like us talking to each other, but we get to see each other during lunch."

"How do you all get lunch if ' _Mr. Stefans_ ' is always passed out in the freaking basement?"

Emma had already explained to Naia that Mr. Stefans' quarters were the entire bottom two floors. He'd put a door at the bottom of the staircase down to those floors, which always remained locked. He had a watch dog and easily kept the kids upstairs.

The orphanage, as previously said, was a massive mansion. It was completely symmetrical on both sides, with one main hallway through the middle. Stefans had only one door connecting the two sides, in the center of the long hallway, and he never unlocked it. The only time the two genders saw each other was lunch, which was in the backyard.

"That," Emma pointed up at the school bell hanging high up on the wall. "When it rings we go downstairs. The back door is unlocked, so we go to the backyard, and then we eat lunch with the boys. I think Mr. Stefans son brings it…or maybe this girl who lives down the street. Her name is Johanna. She's nice. They're a little older than I am. Mr. Stefans doesn't like us talking to his son…" she frowned, looking at her feet.

"Ah ha," Naia muttered with a frown. "What about breakfast? Or dinner?"

"Those to…except, usually we don't have breakfast. Mr. Stefans hit Kris for bringing it one time."

"Kris?"

"His son."

"Hm."

"So, what about you?"

"What _about_ me?" Naia raised an eyebrow.

"What's your story?" prodded Emma.

"You're 10 years old, it's not happy or anything."

"I can handle it. Just…you know," she shrugged. "Give me the basics."

"My parents and I were on a road trip. We stopped at a restaurant. They got drunk. They drove off, and they forgot me there. The next day I hear on the news that there was a car crash. Ta da. Orphan."

"Oh," Emma said sadly. "I'm sorry."

"What about you?"

"Huh? Me? Oh…well…my parents were police…they…um…they left for an assignment and didn't come back…"

"Sorry," sighed Naia. She set a hand on Emma's shoulder. "You don't deserve that."

"None of us do," agreed Emma. "And yet, here we are."

"Emma! Naia!"

The two turned, peering down the long carpeted hallway. The mansion was made in the 1800s and looked like your everyday cliché horror-story haunted mansion.

"Coming Piper!" Emma called back. The two girls picked up into a jog, back down to the small kitchen area in this side of the mansion. It wasn't really a kitchen, since there was no food, but there were the marble countertops, a sink and a wood table.

Emma entered and was met by Eleanor and Pat sitting on the table and Piper sitting on the counter, near the sink. Marie hung by the second entrance to the kitchen, connected to the small empty living space, and Skylier was perched in one of the two wooden chairs. The kitchen provided one of the only windows to the backyard, although it was unable to open, and three stories up.

"He's here," Piper beamed, eyes sparkling with hope. Kris. Kris was here. Emma cheered internally. If he was here this early it meant breakfast! They hadn't seen the boys all of yesterday. Stefans had forgotten to feed them. Emma had stopped caring. She was just excited for today.

Naia helped Emma onto the counter. She was 13, two years older than Piper, the same age as Pat, as Emma had found out, and could easily lift the 10 year old. Piper scooched over and Emma peered out fondly.

Sure enough, Kris was setting two rotten picnic benches.

"We should get changed," recommended Eleanor.

"Yea, Stefans'll have our heads if we don't," agreed Pat. "Like a killer unicorn." She added as an afterthought.

Emma ignored the second comment, instead jumping down and heading back to the dorms briskly. They had only been given one pair of clothes, the ones they came in. Naia had been brought in in the nightgown, but they'd realized earlier that Stefans had also thrown in Naia's old clothes.

Emma slipped on her usual plain pink t-shirt and jeans. The other girls did the same. Piper wore a graphic sky blue t-shirt with a singing bird printed on the front, and her own jeans. Pat slipped on a dark purple long sleeved shirt with a black bucking unicorn on it, black jeans, and a pink sweatshirt with 'YOLO' scrawled on it. Eleanor put on a green shirt with a sun printed on the front, and a pair of lighter jeans.

Skylier put on her plain gray muscle shirt and basketball shorts, and Marie slipped on a red t-shirt, jeans and a black sweatshirt with the brand 'The Port' scripted on the breast. It looked a size too big. Naia noticed and mentioned it.

"Bit big," she scoffed.

"It's not mine," responded the brunette. Naia tilted her head.

"It's Tamashi's," Skylier sing-songed, making kissing noises and puckering her lips.

"Shut up," Marie snapped back, shoving Skylier's shoulder.

Emma made a note to explain to Naia later.

"Besides, what about Victor and Pat, huh?" Marie sneered, bobbing her head at Pat.

"Yea, ain't he dreamy?" Pat smirked, crossing her arms. "If the prettiest sparkly unicorn took human form, it would be called Victor Valentine."

Emma and Eleanor giggled, while Piper shook her head and Marie face palmed.

"And what 'bout you, Songbird?" Skylier smiled goodheartedly. Piper had received the nickname for her singing. Emma enjoyed her singing.

"Drew?" Piper's eyebrows raised, taking the hint. "No. It's not like that."

"Mhmm," Skylier nodded. "I'm sure."

"Whatever," Piper waved them off. "Let's just get to breakfast."

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

Eleanor wandered into the backyard the same as the other girls, quiet and cautious. The girls were always the first ones out. Piper glanced at Pat and the two got to work shoving the two picnic tables together, to make one long table. The girls took seats around the table, Emma chose a seat next to Eleanor.

Soon the boys arrived, flooding out of their own side of the building. You'd think one gender could just walk from one side of the building to the other, via backyard, but they'd tried that…poor Aeron. She'd been moved from the orphanage to some crappy building in the country. She left just before Naia came, actually.

Food was only the best. Psh. As if. Food was soup usually. Soup and bread. Very rarely, Kris would sneak in a delicacy like sandwiches or salad. But today wasn't one of those days. Today it was soup and bread. Eleanor took her own dish and filled it with soup, snatching half a slice of bread, and passing it on down the line.

She took in her calm surroundings. Pat and Victor (a dark skinned boy who had good aim with a slingshot) were fighting over the last half slice of bread, in a good natured sort of manor. Lachlan (an Irish boy, the oldest one here) was chatting with Piper on something that Eleanor couldn't hear, while Drew sat protectively on Piper's other side, cracking jokes and making the two laugh. Spencer (a friendly brunette known for his snarky humor) was messing around with Tamashi (an Asian with a tendency to miraculously appear somewhere new), while Tamashi attempted to chat with Marie. Skylier sat in-between Victor and Marie, now joining into the fight over the final piece of bread.

Eleanor took notice that Naia hadn't joined them at the table quite yet. Instead, she had met up with a strange athletic white haired boy near the back of the table. Unable to stop from speaking up, Eleanor let out a call.

"Hey Naia!"

Naia looked up, as did the boy. Woops. Now everyone at the table was looking at them. Sorry about that.

"Come on," Piper joined in. "Food's good." She gave a polite smile.

"It's most likely the only meal you'll get," added Drew.

"You too, Danny," smirked Spencer.

The two looked a bit confused, but finally joined, earning playful cheers from the others. Over all, lunch was very pleasant…until Naia spoke up again…

"Have you ever tried to escape?"

Everyone froze. Eleanor looked up at Naia, setting down her spoon in the soup.

"Escape?" she repeated in disbelief.

"That's what I said," agreed Naia.

"You know," Daniel explained. "Be free kids. Fend for ourselves. It seems a helluva lot better than staying here."

"I mean…" Emma frowned.

Tamashi covered for her. "We haven't tried it." he stated shortly.

"It's risky," added Lachlan, ripping a piece of bread off and popping it into his mouth. "Someone could get hurt."

Pat nodded, "Or worse."

"With the drunken bastard you never know," Marie sighed.

"We out number him. 13 to 1," Naia persuaded, leaning her elbows on the table and clasping her hands together.

"He has two German Shepherds, nearly took Tamashi's arm off," Spencer retorted. He and the Asian were about as close to brothers you could get, without actually being blood related. Tamashi rubbed his right arm subconsciously.

"13. To. 1." Daniel repeated, staring the two boys down with a serious gaze.

"And if we were to beat the dogs, what then?" Victor inquired.

"Yea, if you haven't noticed, we're kinda in an orphanage. No families," Pat concurred with a frown.

"We snatch a car. Drive to the next town. Take a train wherever we want. Daniel and I have money on the outside, stuff we saved up when we were out there."

"Can you drive?" Piper furrowed her brows, obviously worried. Naia frowned.

"I can," Victor announced.

All eyes went to him.

"My parents thought I should know at a young age. I know the basics, nothing fancy. They were gonna teach me that stuff, but…you know…" he shrugged and the others nodded sadly.

"We can't even get into each other's buildings, how would we form a plan?" Lachlan sounded interested, but not totally convinced.

Daniel lifted his arm from under the table, revealing a nice looking watch. "We have ten minutes left in lunch. Consider it forming plan time. Otherwise we have countless more meals." Lachlan raised his eyebrows in surprise. Eleanor marveled. He was right. Naia was right. Daniel was right. They could do this.

"The police are going to look for us," brought up Skylier. She seemed to be contemplating the entire thing.

"This," Naia threw a hand at the orphanage. "Is child abuse. Police catch us? We didn't do anything wrong. We were only doing what was right for our safety. That happens and all that happens to us is we get put into a better orphanage. There you guys can either stay, or we can escape again, depending on everything."

Piper raised her eyebrows.

"This…could work…"

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

 _Hydra Orphanage – Owned by Marcus Stefans_

 _Queens – New York_

 _2 Days Later_

Naia crossed her arms and peered around at the girls in the dorm. They didn't prepare backpacks. They put on their favorite outfit, and Eleanor snatched a small plushy keychain, clipping it to one of her jean belt loops.

"Everyone knows what their job is?" she clarified.

Nods and murmurs of 'yes' swam nervously around the room.

"Right," she looked down at Spencer's watch. He'd lent it to her so the girls could tell the time. "Five minutes to ten. Help me get the grate off."

Marie and Skylier stepped forwards. The two both held nails pried out of the rickety floor. They began prying off the small vent grate. Naia joined in, digging her fingers in and yanking as hard as she could. It popped off with a loud creak and Piper jumped in, catching it before it clattered to the floor.

"Good luck," the songbird sighed, locking eyes with Naia. Marie and Skylier dropped the nails from their hands into Naia's. She wedged them into her pocket.

She gave a nod of thanks and crept into the small vent.

The plan was relatively simple. The vents had been the only accessible point where the two groups could connect. The wooden door had posed too much noise, and Stefans seemed to have eyes in the sky when it came to swapping dorms during lunch or dinner. The vents were relatively quiet, and totally unnoticed.

Halfway between the boys and girls dorms, the vent shafts met in a 'T' shape. The girls came from the left, the boys came from the right, and a long corridor dropped downwards, too the first floor (or so they hoped). Two thick wire meshes were in their way. One separating the two sides, and one blocking the tunnel downwards. Another metal grate covered their way out of the exit tunnel, on top of that. And Naia was armed with three rusty screws. Yup. It was a good plan.

It had been agreed that Naia would work the grate from the girls' side, while Tamashi would work it from the boys' side. They formed Team 1. Team 2 consisted of Emma, Eleanor, Spencer and Piper. The two youngest had been deemed the most important. Spencer had a tendency to protect, as did Piper. They'd be the second ones to meet the first floor.

Two German Shepherds were awaiting. The team of six would move, hiding wherever they deemed necessary, clearing a path for the artillery group (Daniel, Victor, Lachlan and Pat, armed with slingshots and other various homemade weapons), who would drop down and take out the dogs. Finally, the Stealth Squad, or Team 4, would arrive. Marie, Skylier and Drew would make their way into Stefans' lounge, where he was most likely passed out, and scrounge up whatever money they could get their hands on, along with the keys to the door.

It was risky.

If all went to plan, the large group would leave the house, swipe a car, and drive away.

Huff.

They were on Step 1.

Naia crept through the vent. She dragged herself along, and eventually clicked a button on Spencer's watch. A light lit up the pitch black confinement and she was met by an Asian three feet away from her head. He looked up, wincing at the brightness. Naia passed a rusty nail through a small hole in the wire mesh, and the two got to work sawing through the vent.

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

 _Boy's Dorm_

Three clangs rang through the metal shaft.

"That's me," Spencer sighed. Victor slapped him on the back and gave a reassuring smile. Spencer shrugged his shoulder, stinging pain running through his back, and began creeping through the vent.

It sent dust into his eyes and made him sneeze twice before he could actually continue.

"You sneeze like a panda!"

Spencer froze, rolled his eyes and flipped the bird to no one in particular. It didn't help when more dust was sent up by the movement, and he sneezed again.

"A panda!" cheered Pat in a whisper shout.

Spencer didn't respond, instead glaring at her general direction and continuing through the vent. He met the halfway point, coming face to face with Emma. He held up a hand before she could continue.

"T," he hissed down the long shaft leading downwards.

"What?" came the annoyed reply from the bottom.

"Clear?"

"Yea, otherwise I wouldn't be down here. I'd probably be shouting. No sign of the dogs yet."

"Check," Spencer held out his hands and Emma crept forwards.

After much arranging, Emma's feet dropped into the downwards shaft. "Okay?" Spencer met the 10 year old's eyes.

Emma frowned nervously, peering down into the long black corridor beneath her. He held her beneath the armpits and was currently the only thing keeping her from plummeting. "Mhm."

"T!" Spencer whisper called again.

"What?!" came the snappish reply.

"Can you catch Emma?"

A huff. "Ready."

"Ready?" Spencer looked back up to Emma.

"Uh huh," Emma closed her eyes.

"You can't scream," he said sternly.

"I won't," Emma's eyes were wide, and her breaths were panicky.

"Three," Spencer tensed. "Two," Emma closed her eyes. "One."

He released and Emma plummeted downwards. An loud grunt came from the bottom, but much to Spencer's to relief, no scream was heard.

"Got her," grumbled Tamashi from the bottom of the shaft.

Spencer lifted his head, looking to Eleanor, the next in line. She was gazing down the black vent with slight horror. The brunette felt pride as Eleanor shuffled around, and stuck her feet in. "I got this." She muttered half-heartedly.

"You sure?" Spencer titled his head. Eleanor gave a nod. "Tamashi," Spencer alerted. "Elean—"

Eleanor leapt and Spencer, mouth still open in mid-warning, grimaced as a loud thump sounded from the bottom. Spencer heard Eleanor list out a series of sorry's and Tamashi command to get off him. Before Spencer could stop her, Piper was down the hatch, earning another loud curse from the Asian below, and a squeak from Eleanor.

"Alright," Spencer crept forwards a bit, readying himself to drop downwards into the pit. He'd given his watch to Naia, so no light could be seen. "You guys can come!" he called down the vent.

Much to Spencer's dismay, the downwards vent had been closer than predicted, and all of the creeping forwards to hear better had sent his body weight into an uneven balance. Without much control, he to fell downwards, and landed onto a previously recovering dog pile.

On the bottom was a very pissed off Tamashi, laying on his stomach. On top of him, on her back, was Eleanor. Sprawled across Eleanor, in a starfish position on her stomach, was Piper, and now, flipped onto his back, Spencer landed, topping off the painful sandwich.

Emma paled from where she and Naia stood off to the left. Spencer sent his best smile.

"Get. Off," Tamashi wheezed.

Spencer rolled off, followed by Piper, who muttered a 'sorry'. She then turned and gave Eleanor a hand up, while Spencer gave his hand to Tamashi.

"That's gonna leave a mark," remarked the brunette, rubbing his lower back.

"You think?" snarled the Asian, cracking his back.

A small 'incoming' echoed down the vent, and the two quickly dodged as Pat came flying down the vent in the ceiling.

"A panda!" she chirped quietly as she got to her feet.

"What?" Tamashi cocked an eyebrow.

"He sneezes like a panda!" she marveled quietly.

"Shut up," grumbled Spencer.

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

Drew was the last to exit the vents. He was met by a group of determined teenagers fighting with _three_ abnormally large and vicious German Shepherds. You know how great the surprise was that there was _three_ dogs not _two?!_ Not great!

He quickly snatched up Emma, who was falling behind as Naia herded everyone into the next room. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and her arms around his neck, head poking over his shoulder. Drew ran like heck, the massive brute of a dog biting at his heels and snarling viciously.

The four defensive team, Lachlan, Pat, Daniel and Victor, were distracted by the first dog, which was chasing the biggest piece of the group. Daniel had stocked small stones in his pockets, and currently whipped them with precise accuracy at the dog's eyes. Victor had a slingshot, and was pelting the dog with stones. Meanwhile, Pat and Lachlan were throwing various objects at the second dog, who was snapping its jaws loudly and barking with mad rage.

It would be a miracle if Stefans didn't wake to this noise.

Drew jumped with Emma onto one of the many tables filling the small space. It was some sort of living room, with tables and lounge chairs everywhere. Drew whipped his leg away from the bloodthirsty dog, just before it closed its jaws.

He looked down at the small girl in his arms, only to find her reaching for something behind him.

Drew frowned, but kept his nervous glance at the dog. "Emma, what're you—"

Fire sprayed from whatever was in her hands.

"Holy shit!" he couldn't help himself.

The dog whimpered and retreated with a growl. Drew took his chance and swept up Emma, bolting for the door. He whipped through and someone closed it behind him. The dogs had been closed in.

"What the hell was that?!" hissed Piper in surprise.

Drew set down Emma in a tired manor. In her hands she clutched a lighter, one used for cigarettes, and a small bottle of hairspray. Ah ha. There was the answer. Spray some of that on the lighter and you got your own mini flame thrower.

"You're one crazy kid," Pat raised an eyebrow.

"If Stefans hasn't woken up already," Naia hissed, glaring at Drew and Emma. "Then I suggest we go snatch the keys."

"Agreed," nodded Daniel. "Stealth Team?"

Drew gave a sigh before stepping forwards.

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

Skylier held her breath as the door gave a short creak.

As expected, Stefans was sprawled out over his bed, unconscious. It reeked of alcohol in the large bedroom. Glass sprayed across random spots of the carpet. A small fire was lit in the fire place. None of them had shoes, so they'd have to keep open eyes.

"Spread out," Marie whispered. A nod from Skylier and Drew.

Skylier took to the man himself. He breathed rotten breaths and stank of urine and puke. It was _putrid_. She reluctantly began sifting through the disgusting man's pockets, while Marie searched the cluttered desk and Drew fingered the packed hooks on the wall.

Skylier felt her fingers touch metal. She carefully began pulling. Soon the keys were fr—

A loud crash tore through the air. Stefans' eyes fluttered open. Skylier whipped the keys from his pocket as his eyes widened, clear as day. The alcohol flushed through his system. Marie and Drew both froze. Skylier turned as Stefans _roared_.

The three fled the room, Marie slamming the door behind her.

Skylier entered the door hall. A large bookcase had been tipped on its side. Behind the bookcase, which had been tipped on its side, books strewn across the floor, sat a door. The teens remaining in the door hall fumbled with its handle.

"What're you doing?!" Marie shrieked. "The door is this way!" she threw a crazed hand at the exit. Drew was already there, and Skylier threw the keys his way.

Daniel, Victor and Lachlan noticed the commotion and quickly crowded Stefans' bedroom door, holding it shut just barely. Angry curses filled the air, cutting through the noise, and he rammed the door multiple times.

Skylier turned back to the rest of the group, who were clearing the books and case frantically.

"What's going on?!" Skylier demanded.

"Someone's in here!" Piper answered loudly.

"What?!" Skylier's eyes widened. Stefans locked someone in a room and blocked the door? He was a crazy man. He was insane. He was filthy. He was horrid. He was a monster. Who in the world would he—

"It's Kris." She realized quietly. "It's Kris!" she announced again out loud.

Realization crossed everyone's face. Cracking wood sounded.

"Running out of time!" Daniel growled, shoving with all of his might on the door.

"Kris!" Naia shoved the bookcase hard. If they left them his father would kill him. "We're going to get you out!"

A muffled reply came through the door.

Skylier ran over and together, between herself, Naia, Piper, Eleanor, and everyone else, they managed to shove the heavy oak bookshelf to the side. The door cracked open and Kris quickly slid out.

"Let's go!" Victor ordered, seeing Drew unlock the door.

Skylier sprinted for the door as the three boys let Stefans loose.

 _ **~AOS~AOS~AOS~**_

Victor kept his eyes peeled for a car. CarCarCar.

The brisk night wind hit his face like a slap in the face.

Stefans shrieked behind him and he felt the man's filthy hands skim the fabric of his shirt. He held back from shuddering and shoved Kris forwards, as the boy was falling behind. Kris was about his age, but Victor still felt everyone in this place was a younger sibling than him.

Next he gave Pat a push, as she had begun to drop in speed as well.

"Car!" Marie suddenly shrieked. Victor peered over his shoulder. Stefans was large, with long legs, but his beer belly had slowed him, and he slowed to a trot, before stopping and yacking in the flowerbeds. Victor cringed and continued forwards.

The car was a white van with the orphanage's logo painted on the side. It had barely been used, and it would be miraculous if it started, but Naia _dove_ into the front seat, beginning to hot wire it. The teens scrambled into the vehicle, Victor harshly—but necessarily—shoving Naia into the passenger's. The van had room for 12, but 13 could be crammed in.

3 seats in the front, another row of 3 behind it, another behind that and a final in the back. Four rows. Victor and Naia took the front, Pat crammed between them. Daniel, Tamashi and Spencer took the next row. Piper, Skylier, Marie and Emma somehow managed to stuff into the third row. Lachlan, Drew and Eleanor took the back.

Victor slammed the gas and the van sped off, leaving a very angry Stefans behind.

"He'll have to go back inside to call the police," Naia announced, staring into the rearview mirror.

"He'll have to find a new phone first," Marie commented, pulling a phone out of her pocket with a smirk. The teens cheered tiredly. She chucked the phone out of the still-open door. It was broken on impact.

"That gives us a good fifteen minutes for him to find a phone, another half an hour for the police to arrive," Daniel gave a smirk between panting breaths.

"And they might not even find us," agreed Pat.

Naia nodded.

"No. They won't."

 **Unsure where to end this because of the elongated plan, so I kept writing till I deemed worthy. I hope you all found it interesting. :) I included as many Easter eggs as possible (ie. 'The Port', the flamethrower, Daniel's accuracy, the various t-shirts). I had tons of fun writing this, so I hope you all enjoyed reading it. :) Let me know what you thought! I love hearing from you! Thanks again to AOSISMYLIFE for the prompt! ;D**

 **A whopping total of 5,136 words! (these are turning out longer than expected. XD)**

 **Update soon! Love y'all!**

 **-AG**


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